Yahoo #1 Web Property Again In US, First Time Since May 2011

ComScore just released its monthly Top 50 US Web properties list today. I’ve generally stopped looking at this list. But it was pointed out to me by Matt McGee that Yahoo is back at number one.

When was the last time Yahoo was number one? We’ve submitted the question to comScore directly but haven’t heard back. In my own investigation (going month to month), I determined that the last time Yahoo was at the top of this list was March, 2008 (May, 2011 is actually the last time Yahoo was number one; see postscript below for comScore statement):

In April 2008, Google took over the top spot and has remained there since — until today. Yahoo has been in the top two or three repeatedly but not back at number one until now.

The site is also at the top of comScore’s Ad Focus rankings on the basis of internet audience reach.

Postscript: Right after this posted a few people tweeted that this new top ranking is based on Yahoo’s Tumblr acquisition. While the first chart suggests in a footnote not reproduced above, that some portion of Tumblr traffic has been assigned to “other sites,” it’s still ranked separately at #28 above, with 38.3 million uniques.

The Yahoo and Tumblr traffic figures have not been combined (or entirely combined) by comScore. It’s possible that some “assignment” of a part of Tumblr traffic to Yahoo is responsible for the boost. However that’s not clear at the moment.

Postscript II: I was finally able to connect with comScore this afternoon and was corrected that the last time Yahoo was number one was May, 2011. Here’s the statement I received about whether Tumblr impacted the ranking:

Tumblr is not currently included in the Yahoo! Sites roll-up. Seems there are other factors at play, and given how close Yahoo Sites and Google have been in recent months it can likely just be normal seasonal/month-to-month fluctuations.

About The Author

Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor at Search Engine Land. He writes a personal blog, Screenwerk, about connecting the dots between digital media and real-world consumer behavior. He is also VP of Strategy and Insights for the Local Search Association. Follow him on Twitter or find him at Google+.